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AMSTERDAM, NY—Congressman Paul D. Tonko announced today that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has awarded Mid-Hudson Data Corp. in New York $640,296 in funding to expand broadband services to hundreds of locations across the State, including the Town of Westerlo.

“The COVID-19 health crisis continues to underscore the real need for improved broadband services throughout our Capital Region, whether for students accessing online classes, businesses connecting with vendors and serving their consumers, medical professionals delivering telehealth services, or the many other ways we rely on this infrastructure every day,” Congressman Tonko said. “Too many of our friends and neighbors continue to face enduring difficulties accessing broadband internet. This funding will help us take another step in bridging the digital divide in our communities. I am grateful that the FCC is addressing the needs of New Yorkers, and I will continue fighting to improve and expand broadband access for our region and all Americans.”

Rep. Tonko has long fought for improved broadband access across New York State and the nation. In May, he sent a letter to Chairman Pai detailing the agency’s systemic failure to support New York residents without broadband internet access. The letter contained testimonial from parents, teachers, students and business owners across the Capital Region struggling without access.

Tonko also joined in introducing the House Democratic Plan to Connect All Americans to Affordable Broadband Internet for the Coronavirus stimulus response, an updated version of the broadband provisions of House Democrats’ Moving America Forward Framework.

This New York funding is part of more than $7.5 million awarded to expand rural broadband in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. These investments will connect over 3,100 unserved rural homes and businesses. In total, the Connect America Fund Phase II Auction in 2018 allocated $1.488 billion in support over the next ten years to expand broadband to more than 700,000 unserved rural homes and small businesses in 45 states.

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